I find it peculiar that his voice is so low - and it really fits him - on his later works (I only know of House here).
I feel like the Hugh in A Bit of Fry & Laurie, 101 Dalmatians etc. is like watching a child. He had, or used, a much lighter voice then, and often some extravagant/comical way of behaving.
Do you find that odd or is it just me? It's like he's split into two different versions of himself some time in the 2000s.
I think it's a combination of getting older, how voices tend to lower in pitch a bit as you age, and the fact that in shows like Jeeves & Wooster & Blackadder he seemed to be doing a voice higher-pitched then his natural voice. As you suggest, for comic effect & for the character types I'm sure. In 80s/90s interviews his voice was not as high pitched as it was in his TV shows.
Then to make it even more pronounced, his voice tends to go a bit lower I think in House. LOL.
There IS certainly a big difference between 80s/90s roles and today, and not just in his voice. :P
"I've already identified a couple of spots to dump your body if this goes south."-House
What you say sounds reasonable, but you can make an easy comparison to Stephen Fry, being involved on tv as much as (or even more than) Laurie. He has played parts in drama films as well, and he speaks almost of just like he did back then. Hugh had to put it on quite a bit, then!
I know most guys voice gets lower as one ages, but in Hugh's case I just find it remarkable. Maybe there is something about him being "on the ball" all the time in his 90's tv work. That's what I meant with the childlike image, he never seems very laidback and calm in those kind of roles.
smoking over long periods of time will lower the voice. He's a smoker.
shareI'll be honest, I tried watching Jeeves and Wooster after House and I couldn't finish it. I just like his character as House so much that it's ingrained in my head that I can't acclimatize to a higher pitched, or even English sounding Hugh Laurie. The deep reverberating American accent just suits him so perfectly.
shareI haven't seen Jeeves and Wooster but maybe its not hugh what you didn't like in it, maybe the humor is too local so you can't understand it as well as the more international sense of humor we see in House.
I agree that he just changes his tone when he is doing straight up comedy and then uses a different tone when he is doing drama.
His British accent does sound very attractive as well, have you seen The Night Manager? There he uses his own accent and sounds as cool as House. He has that voice we loved listening when he was doing House.
Maybe but I watch a lot of bbc show although mostly period films.
I've never seen TNM but I've been hearing about it for some time. I'll go give it a watch. I guess it doesn't help I have a crush on his House character, lol.
You have to see The Night Manager.
Roper is a bitt similar to House, charming when he wants, great leadership skills and a good sense of humor the only difference is that he is truly a bad guy in that one.
Have you seen Gangs of New York?
If you did, Roper is like a modern day Bill The Butcher.
Really? I get crushes on bad guys too actually, lol. I'll check it out, thanks!
Yes, I've seen GONY but not in a while. So I don't remember much, is Bill DDL's character?
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